1. Technical Field
The present invention is directed to a system and method for advertising and negotiating services for commercial and general aviation.
2. Description of Related Art
Typically, when a pilot is approaching an airport, the pilot may wish to call ahead to the airport to schedule services upon arrival at the airport. For example, if the pilot intends to continue the flight to another destination, the pilot may wish to purchase additional fuel for the remainder of the flight. Similarly, if the pilot is ferrying passengers, such as business passengers, the pilot may wish to schedule ground transportation to meet the passengers, food, lodging, and other accommodations. These services are typically provided by fixed base operators (FBOs) that are present at the airport or in close proximity to the airport.
Currently, the burden of knowing who to contact for a particular service is placed on the pilot. The pilot must know, or lookup in a flight guide, for example, which FBOs are operating at an airport and personally contact those FBOs using radio or cellular telephone communication. The pilot must then negotiate the sale of the services orally via radio or cellular communication.
Many times there may be a plurality of FBOs that provide a similar service at an airport. The present way of obtaining services makes it difficult for a pilot to negotiate the best deal amongst the plurality of FBOs offering similar services since it requires that the pilot personally contact each FBO and negotiate to obtain a best deal for the desired services. There is currently no mechanism available for the automatic identification of FBOs and negotiation of the sale of services.
In view of the above, it would be beneficial to have a system and method for advertising and negotiating services for commercial and general aviation. It would further be beneficial to have a system and method by which a pilot may enter information regarding services desired and automatically obtain advertisements of currently available deals on the desired services from FBOs at the airport.